as far as miles go, ive got 184k on my truck, as far as the belt goes, i dont recall exactly, but i had the belt changed in the area of 40-50k mi ago... as far as the tick sound goes... it really never goes away... it is pretty constant at any rpm and at any time of day, hot or cold.... highway noise drowns it out some, but it is still there... i did the m1 change yesterday and that helped a little right away, but by today the noise was just as loud as before... i am going to give it some time though, i know its not immediate... as far as the timing belt change goes.. if you have done it, what is involved? i will look into doing that this summer...